Ideas

A Radical Pick for the National Security Council

John Bolton’s new chief of staff comes from the Center for Security Policy, a group that was largely shunned by conservatives in Washington—but is making a comeback in the Trump era.

Science & Tech

The US Navy Is Developing Mothership Drones for Coastal Defense

The service is looking to accelerate the way it buys, builds and drills drones and robotic ships.

Ideas

Trump’s North Korea Gamble Is a Real-Time Experiment

Here’s how the president’s bets look when viewed through the lens of behavioral economics.

Ideas

US Officials Just Mislabeled a Syrian Terror Group as al Qaeda. Worse, They’re Missing a Far Bigger Threat

The HTS group is not part of al Qaeda, but at loggerheads with it. Meanwhile, a smaller group is plotting global jihad.

Ideas

Ep. 6: Summit scramble; Hello, Indo-PACOM; All about Russian disinfo, and more.

Welcome to our podcast about the news, strategy, tech, and business trends defining the future of national security.

Science & Tech

How the NGA Sped Up Its Tech Acquisition

Two words: app store.

Business

The US Defense Industry Wants an Arms-Export Czar

AIA proposes the appointment of a single official or government body to shepherd deals through the Defense, State and Commerce Departments — among other changes.

Defense Systems

RFP for JEDI cloud contract slips past May deadline

Officials are still working on the final solicitation for the massive cloud initiative.

Defense Systems

DLA looks to dramatically reduce application footprint

The Defense Logistics Agency Director Lt. Gen. Darrell Williams is concerned about supply chain vulnerabilities and thinks reducing the number of applications on DLA's network will reduce risk.

Ideas

What Would Denuclearization Look Like in North Korea?

Success will start by closing the gap between what the U.S. and North Korea mean by the term.

Defense Systems

GAO: TRANSCOM cloud award should be cancelled

The Government Accountability Office recommended that the Pentagon terminate its $950 million award to Amazon cloud reseller REAN made under an "other transaction authority."

Ideas

The Status Quo Killed 17 US Sailors. The Navy Must Change.

The surface warfare community should embrace, not reject, a congressional mandate to divide new line officers into two specialties.

Ideas

Did Congress Just Shut Down Trump’s War Plans for Iran?

The Senate would do well to follow the House’s lead — and go even farther to shut all the backdoors to war.

Threats

Pentagon Rebrands PACOM as ‘Indo-Pacific Command’

The change is symbolic, defense officials say, but it emphasizes the U.S.’s commitment to new partnerships.

Science & Tech

Special Operations Command Takes Aim At Enemies Hiding Files Inside Seized Electronics

Terror groups are using new techniques to reduce the intel value of seized laptops and cellphones.

Defense Systems

Army awards $841M contract extension for computing system support

Leonardo DRS has received a potential $841.5 million contract to continue its hardware supply and engineering services for an Army computing platform used to manage networked-battle command information in a common environment.

Science & Tech

The US Military Has a New Tool to Connect Its Far-Flung African Bases

A medium-earth-orbit satellite contract hints at AFRICOM’s data and connectivity needs.